‘Competition drives intensity’ Eidevall happier to be working with bigger squad

Jonas Eidevall says the size of Arsenal’s squad is driving his team to new heights. The Arsenal Women boss said that the level of intense competition for places, as well as the increased prospect of rotation, has helped his team to find a high level of intensity in games.

Eidevall prizes an intense, high pressing approach and he was frank at the outset of last season that he felt his squad was not big enough to compete on all fronts and Arsenal also suffered an injury crisis after the winter.

“It’s a really thin balance but I think the reality of it is that competition drives intensity,” he explained. “That’s one thing – when you have a squad where there is a lot of competition for a spot, that drives intensity in a good way. That’s important. You don’t become that fragile as a squad if you do pick up a minor injury. You still have cover.”

Eidevall admitted that the size of the squad was an issue last season. “In a thinner squad, that quickly goes to a downward spiral, where you pick up a smaller injury and can’t afford to pick up another one, so then you load and train less. Then you become less able to handle load in the future.

“That’s not a good spiral to come into as a team. You want to go the opposite way – where you’re able to train better, with more intensity, to prepare more.” Eidevall said this was part of the reason his team were able to suffocate Chelsea with an outstanding high pressing display last week, before making 10 changes for the midweek Conti Cup tie against Chelsea.

“Then that can prep the team, so they can develop and become stronger during the season. I think that comes back to both the quantity and the quality aspect of it. It’s the quantity in numbers to be able to do that, but you need to have quality because otherwise you can’t play at the tempo and have that competition. That has been a main driver in us being able to go there from a training culture perspective.”

Eidevall admits the size of his squad has given him selection issues so far this season but they are issues he is happy to have. The Gunners are set to be active in the January window again and Arseblog News understands talks have already taken place with an international right-back.

“I already think I have those nice problems, with both team selection and squad selection. That’s how it should be. We were talking about last season, where we were too thin. In the spring, I did not have those problems at all and that was really hurtful for our campaign then.

“We’re at a much better and stronger place now, needing to take those decisions. While that is tough on the individual at that moment – if you’re not starting games or if you’re not making the squad – it’s definitely beneficial for the team and for the football club and for the collective ambition we have.”